With the Kahuka Koffee, Andrew Tate (aka snaillad) proves once again that he is a master of the large buildings. The Kahuka Koffee is six storeys (including the roof) and is named after the cafe located on the ground floor.

I love the variation in the facade of this modular building, with the different windows not just up one side / edge of the building, but across both sides. This is something I always struggle with in my own buildings. In most instances, I end up having the windows framed the same way on each level.

The upper half (white floors and roof) is my favourite part of this building. I particularly like the:

round windows on the second white floor

reddish brown trim above the windows on the lower white floor and the use of the white telescopes for trim on those same windows

curve in the roof, and

contrast between the white facade and the black of the roof.

The other things that caught my eye were the lamp post and the reddish brown double doors on the right hand side of the building. It looks like those doors are brick-built, with the arches sideways to create the semi-circle effects.

The interior of the Kahuka Koffee is also really well done. I like how the display cabinet and open drinks fridge have been done and the use of the different types of seating. The black couches are my favourites, and look like a nice place to enjoy a long black.

Thanks for the inspiration, Andrew! Head over to his Flickr album to see the Kahuka Koffee in high resolution glory.

LEGO shared details of the next modular building this week – the Downtown Diner, scheduled for release on 1 January 2018.

If you’re curious what LEGO says about it’s latest modular building, scroll to the bottom.

My view? I must admit that my first reaction was one of disappointment. It is a nice building, but I couldn’t picture it fitting in with a traditional modular street. The street view released by LEGO re-inforces this in my opinion.

Rebrickable recently announced that it had merged with MOCPlans, and it is now possible to buy and sell instructions for MOCs directly through Rebrickable. This option overcomes a number of the reasons I stopped selling instructions (mainly time, and nothing at all to do with Lepin), so I thought I’d give it a go.

At this stage, there are instructions available for just four of my MOCs:

It’s always a treat when Barrie Crossan produces one of his Dutch-style modular buildings, so it’s even more of a treat when there’s two! The Double Dutch includes a 19-stud wide Florist and 13-stud wide Record Shop, each with a two-bedroom apartment on the upper floors.

Both facades are striking, using bold and contrasting colours. Dark Orange and White is one of my favourite colour combinations for modular buildings. (Edit: I may need a new monitor – Barrie tells me its actually Reddish Brown!) I would normally have thought to use Light Bluish Grey for the trim on this colour combination, but I like how the Black trim ties the two buildings together.

The interior is fully furnished, with lots of clever ideas. My favourites are the loft bed and the snowboard couch!

As part of the celebration of 10 years of modular buildings, LEGO is giving you the chance to win the complete set of modular buildings. Yep, every single one of them. Essentially, you just need to build a mini modular scale version of one of your own modular buildings, that fits within the defined specs for the mini modular.

You’ll go mad if you miss out on the opportunity to win every single modular building ever produced by LEGO! So head over to Rebrick now to check out the competition details. (Or don’t, that’s OK by me!)

The Hat Store by Gabriele Rava is one of those buildings with loads of street appeal that immediately draws your attention. It is one of contrasts in terms of colours and details, with the darker, intricate details on the ground floor followed by the lighter middle floor with simpler detailing and then finished off by a bright colour for the top floor which again has more intricate detailing. Despite that (or is it because off that?), it all works really well together to create a striking building.

My favourite details are the windows on the ground floor and the trim at the roof line (the parts with the 1×1 plate with tooth). The brick-built hats are neat too!

I also love the colours in this building. While I wouldn’t have thought to put the yellow and dark orange together, it kind of makes sense when you think of it in terms of them being shades of one another, including the dark red in the awnings on the ground floor.